Week 23 in Serie A kicked off last Thursday as Cesena traveled to face Lazio. For the first time in this campaign Cesena scored two goals in an away match as a Vincenzo Iaquinta cross found Adrian Mutu, who scored Cesena’s first goal, thus Mutu has now been directly involved in 53.3% of Cesena’s goals, scoring seven and assisting one.
Ex-Juventus player Iaquinta scored his debut goal for his new club from the penalty spot to make the score-line 2-0. The second half kicked off and the Biancocelesti were all set for a comeback with Hernanes scoring a wonder goal and it also must be said that Lazio always win this season when Hernanes scores.
On the 60th minute Senad Lulic scored the equalizer after an assist from Miroslav Klose, and three minutes later the Czech Republic striker Kozak scored his first goal of the season and Lazio’s winner. Cesena are still without a win over the Biancocelesti at the Olimpico in Serie A while Lazio are now unbeaten in their last six home matches.
AC Milan made Udinese suffer their first home defeat of the season after a 1-2 win at the Stadio Friuli. The first goal came from Serie A’s top scorer, with seventeen goals, Antonio Di Natale meaning he now has scored in six of his last seven meetings against AC Milan. In the second half Maxi Lopez was brought on and scored his first goal for his new team after a deflected shot from Stephan El Shaarawy was spilled by Samir Handanovic. A few minutes later Lopez crossed the ball to El Shaarawy who scored his second goal of the season in Serie A and his first against Udinese, who have now lost three of their last four games. It should also be noted that this was the first time since the October 23 that Milan haven’t had Zlatan Ibrahimovic net any of their goals in Serie A.
The Derby d’Isole saw Palermo suffer their first defeat in four against Cagliari with former striker Mauricio Pinilla doing the damage for Cagliari and the other new signing Daniele Dessena scored his first goal for the Rossoblu making it 2-0. While Abel Hernandez scored a penalty in the 83rd minute it was not enough as the game ended 2-1. Palermo were without Fabrizio Miccoli who was involved in eleven of their last thirteen goals which may have been a factor in the defeat. Cagliari are now unbeaten in their last four home games.
Novara got their first away win of the campaign against Inter at the Giuseppe Meazza, the only goal of the game came from Andrea Caracciolo who has scored seven goals against Inter, more than any other Serie A team. After 21 games without a clean sheet Novara managed their second consecutive shutout, while Inter are now without a win in their last four games with three of them being defeats.
Genoa suffered a fourth consecutive defeat away from home, this time it was 4-0 against Vincenzo Montella’s Catania side. The first goal was scored by Francesco Lodi from the penalty spot which was his sixth goal of the season which makes him the clubs to scorer and Catania the only team with a top goal scorer from midfield. After that, a brace was scored by the Argentinian striker Pablo Barrientos and the last was netted by Gonzalo Bergessio. Genoa have now conceded 18 goals in their last four outings in Serie A and they hold the weakest away defense conceding 29 goals altogether.
Lecce snatched point at the Atleti Azzurri d’Italia stadium when they faced Atalanta. Sersi Cosmi’s side are hugely improving as now they stand with only one defeat in their last six fixtures while La Dea only have one win in the same number of games.
After scoring consecutively in their last nine games Roma faced one of the top five defenses in Serie A, Siena managed their second clean sheet in a row in Serie A following their game with Juventus. Siena were able to grab a win after a terrible mistake from Simon Kjaer which gave Siena a penalty which was scored by Emanuele Calaiò. That took his tally to ten goals alongside an assist which is 52.4% of his team’s goals. Siena are now unbeaten in their last four home games while Roma have not won in their last three away games.
After three consecutive wins over Napoli, Chievo finally succumbed to a 2-0 defeat to Walter Mazzarri’s side. After a very long injury layoff, summer signing Miguel Britos scored his first goal for Napoli from a stunning header. Later a huge mistake from Stefano Sorrentino gave Napoli a penalty which was scored by Edison Cavani – his thirteenth goal in Serie A this season. The team with the most draws this season finally got a win after failing to do so in their last six games in all competitions, while Chievo are now with three losses in their last four matches.
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